THE- PRE-HI8T0KIC EACE8 OF ITALY. 495 



and are most immerous in tbe provinces of Parma, Reggie, and Modena. 

 They consist of beds of brownish or dark-colored eartli, rich in phos- 

 l)hates and nitrates, and which are now used by the peasants for 

 manuring their fiekis. They are plainly the refuse heaps or middens 

 of ancient vilhiges, which were pile dwellings erected on dry laud. 

 They vary from an acre to 3 or 4 acres in extent, and usually rise some 

 10 feet above the plain, resembling the Arab villages in Egypt, each 

 standing on its teJl, raised above the inundation. These knolls are 

 composed solely of the refuse of habitation, of the bones of animals, 

 and of broken pottery thrown out from the huts, which were built on 

 platforms resting on piles. The lower strata of rubbish belong to the 

 age of stone, while in many cases the upper strata belong to the age of 

 bronze. They must have been occupied for many centuries, to allow 

 of such vast accumulations of refuse. They were protected bj' a square 

 earthen mound or rampart, surmounted by palisades, like a New 

 Zealand pah. 



These terre mare, of which nearly a hundred are known, disclose 

 clearly the civilization of the first Aryan settlers in Italy, the ancestors 

 of the Latin race. They made mats from the bark of the clematis ; they 

 knew how to prepare and to weave tlax; they even obtained amber 

 beads from the Baltic, but they possessed no swords, flbuljB, or rings. 

 They had neither iron, gold, silver, nor glass. Bronze was cast, but 

 not forged. We find strainers for preparing honey, and hand-mills or 

 querns for grinding grain, but there is no sign of bread having been 

 baked. The vine was cultivated, but the art of making wine had not 

 been discovered. No idols of any kind have been found. Certain 

 earthenware crescents, supposed at one time to have been symbols used 

 for lunar woiship, prove to be neck-rests, used for sleeping on the 

 ground, so as to avoid disturbing tlie elaborate coiffure. The dwellings 

 were merely huts of wattle and dab, no stone or mortar having been 

 used in their construction. The people hunted the stag, the roe, and 

 the wild boar, and kept dogs, oxen, sheep, goats, and pigs. They had 

 no fowls. The ass was unknown, and it is doubtful whether they had 

 tamed the horse. Thej^ had dishes [>erforated with holes, which were 

 [)robably used for making cheese, but no fish bones or fish-hooks have 

 been found. They grew wheat, beans, and flax, and gathered wild 

 apples, sloes, and cherries. Acorns were carefully preserved in jars for 

 winter use. 



These peaceful people must have inhabited the plain of the Po for at 

 least a thousand years^ i)robably for a much longer time, two or even 

 three thousand years. They had advanced to the bronze age, and must 

 be regarded as the ancestors of the Latins and the other Aryan tribes 

 of Italy. 



At some period in the bronze age they were suddenly overwhelmed 

 by the invasion of the Etruscans, a fierce and savage ra(;e which broke 

 in on them from the north. All their settlements were destroyed— not 



